The virtual reference services have developed rapidly during the new millennium. In Finland the national Ask a librarian service was launched in 1999. The Helsinki City Library in turn started the iGS (information Gas Station) digital service in 2001 and an online service using the chat technique in 2002. The other Nordic countries have also developed virtual reference services. Denmark has been a pioneer in this field with their Biblioteksvagten service, but corresponding services have been developed in Norway and Sweden as well.

In Finland and in the Nordic countries the virtual reference services have been created within the public libraries. In USA, virtual reference services began earlier and there the services were first built up in the academic libraries, but the public libraries have also been active. USA is still the most developed in virtual reference services and there the development of virtual reference programmes is also most diversified.

In Finland, we have benefited greatly from the experiences in the other Nordic countries. Nordic conferences on virtual reference services have been an important way of exchanging experiences. The first conference was held at Reykjavik 22.-23.5.2000 with the title Referansearbeidet i det elektroniske miljø - bibliotekar, bruker, betjening.The second one at Helsingør 26 - 27.2.2002 with the title Træfpunkt bibliotek? – Bibliotekerne i 24x7 samfundet, arranged by the Danish Research Libraries Association. The third conference, Digital referensservice, was arranged by the Malmo Public Library 28 - 29.11.2002. The fourth one, Virtuell referanse, was held at Tønsberg in Norway 11 - 12.3.2004. This last conference was arranged by the Vestfold Provincial Library. At these conferences the participants have acquired a varied overview of the of development of the virtual reference services and have been given the possibility to thoroughly get acquainted with the tools and routines of virtual reference services.

Now it is Finland’s turn to continue and broaden Nordic cooperation in the field by organizing the following conference.

Arranging the conference in Finland facilitates participation both from Finland and the Baltic countries. Our ambition is also to promote cooperation between the libraries and the museum and archive fields. We estimate the number of participants to about 100.